St Coleman's Cathedral de Cobh - Cathédrale de Cobh • Go-to-Ireland.com

St Coleman’s Cathedral is a superb religious building located in Cobh, not far from Cork… In a remarkable neo-Gothic style, the cathedral overlooks Cork harbour and is said to be one of the most ambitious building projects ever undertaken by the Irish church in the 19th century!

History of St Coleman’s Cathedral

An ambitious project to welcome more and more devotees

Cobh and its cathedral – © susanne2688

Construction of the cathedral began in 1868 on a small hill in Cobh, a fishing village a few kilometers from Cork… At the time, Cobh was a fast-growing town, enjoying great popularity thanks to its seaport, from which the great ships bound for the United States set sail… As a result of the strong emigration period, the city was saturated on all sides, and was unable to house and feed everyone… As for the church in Cobh, it too is struggling to accommodate so many worshippers…

Faced with this situation, Cobh decided to build a new Catholic church, large enough to accommodate all the faithful in transit to the United States…

Construction of Saint Coleman’s Cathedral began in 1868, under the direction of 2 British architects: Sir Edward Welby Pugin and Sir George Ashlin. These 2 men are brimming with ambition, and see in this project the possibility of creating a cathedral of the most monumental kind… The latter wanted it to be neo-Gothic, brimming with gargoyles and other sculptures of great finesse…

The work was not completed until 1915, when the cathedral was finished off with an imposing spire… Given its success, the building became not only a large parish church, but also the official cathedral of the diocese of Cloyne.

Visit St Coleman’s Cathedral

A cathedral at the crossroads of 19th-century art

Cobh Cathedral is of course open to visitors, as well as to the faithful who come to devote themselves to Catholic worship… Here you can admire a neo-Gothic cathedral with purely French influences… The cathedral adopts a Latin cross plan, and is composed of :

a tower to the south-west of the nave
7-bay nave
of tranpsets
chapels on the east side
a choir
an apse

Don’t miss the magnificent stained glass windows in most of the cathedral’s large windows. These are quite remarkable and signed by German and Irish artists.